And 20 years later...

I think last week was one of the longest of my life. I may be exaggerating a bit, but with all the anxiety and trepidation of the weekend to come, it seemed the days just drug on by.

Of course I jam packed each day with doing OTHER things... instead of doing what I should be doing, like washing and packing. But I didn't do any of it. I did get my hair cut and a pedicure, a must for sandals, ya know.... then I made plans with Brandy and had a fantastic night out, which led me to taking off Friday. I didn't get to sleep in like I wanted to because I forgot to disable the alarm. Then I packed, showered, ran errands. I bought 3 pair of sandals at Target and a cute stylish dress for $7!! I had planned to wear it on Saturday, but wore a different outfit instead.

If you've talked to me over the last couple of weeks or so, I may have mentioned some anxiety about this class reunion thing. Well... I guess I was being silly because I had such a fun time. It was so amazing to see so many people from the class. I didn't talk to everyone, but did get to chat with most for a bit. And it brought a little regret back, like why did we all lose touch? We could have easily talked over the last 20 years, but we didn't. Well, some people have remained to stay close and there are many that still live in our hometown.

Friday we hit Kelly's Island and I can't talk about all the hilarity that ensued. There were strawberry shots, Brandy Alex Milkshakes, dancing, singing... puking in the lake (not me), writing on those that passed out and just general hanging on the boats. As soon as we made it down to the boats (2 friends were docked), Scot and I were greeted by a bunch of our old friends. I swear, those 20 years, just dissipated and it felt like we were back there, back when, like no time happened between then and now. All lines were erased and we laughed and hugged and it was so much fun. I don't know why I was so worried. Heck in 10 minutes, I swear, my stomach was in pain from laughing so hard. I could barely stand up because I was just bent over with laughter. Awesome!


(the boaters that arrived early: Cory, Brent, Kristen, Tina, Tracy, Jodi, Erica, Lisa, Amy and Tonya

We made the 12:30 am (last ferry) back to Marblehead with a bunch of the gang. And then off to the hotel, where I was so tired and exhausted and still excited that I couldn't even sleep. We took Scot's mom to lunch and went to Big Lots. Then lounged around until the "official" reunion, which started at 6. That was a nice time also, we saw more people that didn't make the Friday outing and some that came Friday didn't come on Saturday.

We parted ways around 9:30 and headed back to Columbus. I sincerely hope that 20 years doesn't go by again before I see some of these people. It made me realize how much I missed those friendships. So glad we have the internet now though, it will make it so much easier.

Not the greatest photo of us, but one of the best ganked from Tracy's facebook page.
Here we are, the Clyde High School Class of 1990.



The names are a bit zig-zagged and for the ladies, maiden last names.
Tracy Archer, Lisa Lamb, Me, Lavonda Boyd, Roni Dorobek, Jenny Andrews, Tina Biller, Amy Zilch, Jason Whaley, Joe Kiser, Travis Stuart, Kristy Miller, Beth Kreh, Lisa Durdel, Donny White, Shelly Perkins, Amy Harmon, Dave Cook, Cory Distel, Toby Ball, Scot Holmes, Jay Eisenhower, Angie Summers, Chad Keegan, Eric Level, John Farster, Troy Keegan, Tracy Miller, Kendra Sherman, Heather Miller, Rusty Jesse, Michelle Gonzalez, Brett Wott, Kendra & Dee Burdett (hidden), Tonya Combs, and Angie Tusing

Knitting: Crazy good times... and with ICE CREAM CAKE!

ok, does that not look seriously amazing?!

It totally was! And while we all devoured it, I think it was the quietest part of the evening... the only noises were mmmsss... and aaaahhhsss...

Oh and one of my favorite parts of the night... I went to the bathroom (ok, not so amazing), but apparently while I was gone, something funny happened and EVERY SINGLE person there was laughing LOUDLY... it was awesome to walk into this room full of laughter... it made me laugh and I missed the joke entirely!

I brought pizza for the group, a place I hadn't tried before, but I really liked it. I thought the cheese could use a bit more flavor, but I'm always about the cheese, really!?! :)

Then the girls brought out the cake, totally shocking surprise and sooooooo amazingly nice. I mean, I seriously have the best knitting group ever. Lisa brought a bottle of $2 buck Chuck... awesome! The cake was chocolate with Black Raspberry Chip ice cream in between layers and topped with bittersweet chocolate syrup, whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles. YUM!

I know I've said it a few times, but I am so fortunate to know these people. At first it was just like group knitting with people, yay... but slowly, it's evolved into this thing we like DESPERATELY cling to on a bad week (which for many was this week)! LOL... but through the last many months these gals have become... well not just knitters I know... but people that I am glad to call my friends.

I think the majority of us like TV (even if its bad and reality based) and it seems we love different music and movies and of course we have the common love of awesome yarn and knitting. So yeah, maybe first it was about the knitting, but as we've all come to grow together it just becomes this awesome community. We are all bummed when someone misses... and our newer people that have been coming for a few weeks, well it's like they've always been there. So yeah... great group.

And on a week when bad car EXPENSIVE problems crop up and work is going to crap, my stomach has had issues most of the week... and it's your birthday and being near the end of the 4th decade (do the math, that's late 30's people!) it's kind of freaky. Like when I was in my 20's... this seemed so old. And now it's here... I still feel like those days of my 20's. Pretty carefree, sometimes serious... but you know, just living. Age really is nothing but a number, but it's also a cause to pause and wonder and may be be a little melancholy because you realize... wow, life does change and with age comes mortality, etc. So long ago, birthdays meant GROWING UP... now they mean GROWING OLD... and I'm really okay with it... as long as I have these wonderful people around me, like my fabu knitting friends.

So yeah... what started as a great week with a visit from my cousin, then turned to trash on Tuesday.... but as things do, it turned around and am having a wonderful finish! Complete with dinner tonight with friends, a movie tomorrow with a friend I haven't seen in a few months... and well, it's a sunny and beautiful Friday, who could ask for more.

Oh and my car is FIXED! YAY!

A ton of my friends on facebook and ravelry wished me well. I received text messages on my phone and some cards in the mail (and a few late night phone calls). So all in all it was a pretty effing great birthday. Thanks to so many people. I am truly amazed, astounded, proud and so very thankful for all these wonderful people in my life. I am blessed and ever so fortunate.

So here's to 37, people! It's great to be me!

Knitting: the learning curve

So, last night a few from the Thursday clan met up because this Thursday we'll miss our night together due to the holiday. We had a new person/guest. A brand new knitter, like she knit her first stitch last night--brand new! I find it amusing and awesome the reaction from people as they first learn and I remember back to those days of being a new knitter myself. And what is kind of funny is most people have the same reaction. Either uber excitement or horror. Our gal was of the excited variety.

Starting a new adventure can be fun and exciting and maybe scary. And with knitting, I learned something I thought would be very difficult (it wasn't, I tricked myself for years). So when I completed my first finished object, a HAT. I couldn't believe it. I was elated! I made a piece of CLOTHING! And though I made outfits before for myself, via regular material and sewing, it wasn't the same excitement. I couldn't believe how easy it really was and how for so long I tricked myself out of knitting. From that first hat I made another and another and another. With each one, I slightly modified the design. From there I moved on to some fluffy scarfs (maybe). I don't even remember and back then, Ravelry wasn't born yet.

I am still a learning knitter. I think we all are. We tackle new projects and techniques as we go along. My latest feat has been fair isle. It scares some people, different yarns and starnds everywhere... and long ago, I think it probably scared me a little too, but I must say, having done it, I fell in love. It took me years to feel comfortable with my knitting (from where I started) and being confident to deal with stranded knitting. But now I feel accomplished and I love color and the relationship and the patterns and variance keep me "entertained" while I knit. So, stranded colorwork is good for me. And small segway into growing as a knitter, in my opinion, this is the great thing about knitting groups, we all get to see and feel each other's projects and I think those relationships feed our confidence in ourselves and allow us to step outside the boundaries of where our knitting feels safe. These relationships challenge us to take our knitting to another level. Now in some cases, we may say... WOW that is good for you... but I'm not there yet, or good grief, I don't think I'll ever do that!


Which leads me to my next topic.... the dreaded lace! I have some friends that have made beautiful amazing pieces. See here and here and here. But I have attempted to make some lacey type things with little success. It is definitely something that takes more patience than I am willing to give it. Don't get me wrong, I can MAKE lace, but it wears on me and it becomes unfun and I get frustrated, so for now, lace is on my backburner. I would rather keep the fun in knitting and knit what makes me happy... so fair isle it is! HA!

But back to the learning curve... as I was saying, I still learn almost daily something about knitting. Take for instance reading about cast on's a few weeks ago, I had this epiphany that I had been doing the knitted cast on WRONG for umm... yeah, years. When I brought this up last night, Julane did mention something about, yeah that sounds ok and then she said she thought one was the cable cast on and one was knitted, etc....

So of course I looked it up and low and behold, I was in fact doing the KNITTED cast on, correctly and what I recently read the author confused it with the CABLE cast on, which in turn made me feel like I had been doing it WRONG for years, when in fact, I had not. But again, it taught me a new technique. Cable cast on! And to take things a step further, this is where I get a little annoyed with pattern writers or magazines and other sources. I wish they would tell you the cast on of choice for the pattern and WHY you should use this cast on.

Now... some projects, the cast on is irrelevant... but others it is very relevant, say for instance if you want to pick up stitches later... then you need the provisonal cast on, sometimes called a crochet cast on. And here is another non-standarized thing, I consider the crochet cast on, where you actually use a crochet needle to cast RIGHT onto the knitting needle. I'll have to make a video to show the technique, but to me that is a crochet cast on. Others say crochet is what I consider provisional, which is where you make a crochet chain and pickup the back loop stitches of the chain on your knitting needle and knit away. Later, you pull the crocheted chain out and pick up the live stitches and knit on from there.

The point is this, knitting is old, old, old... and people the world over have been knitting for centuries and with all this handed down knowledge, terms and changes are bound to occur. Couple that with the fact that we all hold yarn a different way, some of us knit continental, others knit english and as long as the end result is what we want, we are successful, and that is just the way it should be.

Of course if it isn't, we tink it, rip it, frog it... see, different words mean the same.

But ahhh... the newness of knitting. It's fun all over again.

Knitting amongst friends

So, I am often amazed at the people I know. Take the folks I knit with usually on a weekly basis. They are just all so unique and intersting and funny and I have some of the best times with them. We knitters are good people.

I guess when I first started going to different knitting groups or even just OUT KNITTING IN PUBLIC, I was hesitant that I would "fit-in." I think some of my childhood shyness creeps in every once in awhile. But I went out into the knitting world and now there are people that I really enjoy being around and have a great time with. And yes we KNIT when together, but these are people I could see just hanging out with or catching a movie with or whatever. Anyway, I'm thankful for these friends, these knitters.

And often times, after we depart or later after the group disbands for the evening, I still laugh at what happened while there. I think of all those funny things so and so said, or that story about, whatever and I find myself laughing. We don't need alcohol to laugh and act silly... just some yarn and sticks and we are happy chicks. :)

Laughing and knitting, it's what makes my world go 'round.

I find myself less stressed, I'm in a good mood and overall I feel really content with life right now. Many times in the last however many years, life was a roller coaster. If work was great, then home wasn't, or if home was good, work wasn't. But now... things are mostly even most of the time. I kind of like it.

So, work is good
Home is good
Knitting is good

I'm looking forward to a couple of knitting weekends coming along in the new year. I have one scheduled in January with some pals. Then in February, Audra and I meet up in Pittsburgh with my sister and we go to Camp Kwonokee (???) for a retreat. I will hopefully get a LOT of knitting done. If I can keep my mouth shut. I find if I start talking... I don't get much knitting done. I don't know why I can't do both at the same time, but let's just say I'm challenged.

So knitting and knitting with friends and in groups, it's good stuff.

And I'm already thinking ahead to the new year and resolutions. I've made mention of this to a couple of people, so please hold me accountable.

For 2009, I resolve to FINISH MORE PROJECTS and start less stuff until I do finish! Now this means I will still START new things in 2009, but I do plan to finish everything I started in 2008 also. It's 30-ish projects (I think). Hopefully, by the end of 2009, my Ravelry projects will have more completed projects instead of all WIPS. We can hope, right?

I also plan to get started on gift knitting WAY before it's due.

Knit nights and STUFF

So last night the GANG got together again. I was fortunate enough to meet a member that hadn't been able to come for some time and let me tell you, she was a CHARACTER. She had everyone cracking up to no end. Audra brought her mom, Sandy as well. And our new friend Jackie came back, but her friend Staci couldn't make it. And Brandy was able to come again too! So it was a great group, though I did have to duck a few minutes early. Was trying to make it home before Brian went to bed, but by the time I got there, he was already long gone passed out. I even brought him ice cream, but he was dead to the world!

As for knitting progress... I actually went BACKWARDS! I was really not liking the work I put in on the sleeve, so I pulled it back out... alllllll the way back out. Recast on the extra stitches and got about an inch done. Was very frustrating, but I know it will look better. Of course, now that is just THAT much more time it will be taking me. Argh! I only have a couple more weeks until the birthday. BUT... I do have a 3 day weekend, so I'll be knitting up a frenzy-hopefully!

I resumed working out today. I signed back up at Curves on Tuesday, but couldn't go Wed. and Thurs. because of the knitting groups, so today was the day. It felt good. My muscles are still warm from the workout. I felt some in places that haven't had that type of movement in some time, so it REALLY felt good. I can't wait to start going on a regular basis as they are closed for the weekend due to the holiday. They are also getting a new stretching machine in, so I'm interested to see how that will work. Michelle told me today it doesn't require you to lay on the floor, which I felt was great because it's the last stretch and the one I hate the most. It hurts my back being all laid out like that, nevermind the fact that I feel like a big blob lying there.

In FIBER news... I purchased a GORGEOUS feeling tweedy wool, alpaca, donegal blend at the Merc the other day. It's a blueish color that I'm ok with. WIsh it was the same shade, but in green, I'd REALLY love it then, but no worries. It will go great with Jeans and Khakis. My main concern now is whether or not I can get the correct gauge. It SAYS its the right gauge on the tag, but... I'm not totally sure. I will definitely be doing a swatch this time.

Well it's getting later and I'm hungry and the husband is taking me to dinner. YAY!