How can I help?

My first visit to Whipup.net was a little more than three years ago.  Self-described as an online space that "brings the best original and exciting crafts to the attention of many", Whip up quickly became one of my favorite online hangouts.  

I found Whip up that first time while searching Google in the hopes of finding a Starbucks themed embroidery pattern.   Not only was there a free pattern that was perfect for my needs (a holiday ornament for a Starbucks crazy friend), but the link back to the artist brought me to Wild Olive & Molly Johnson.   If that were not enough, the resulting project induced me to give Starbucks a try which has completely changed my coffee drinking life.

Where am I going with all of this?   Sadly, Kathreen Ricketson (the face behind Whip up) and her husband Rob Shugg have died in a tragic accident.   They are survived by their children Otilija and Orlando.  

A trust fund for their future has been established.   If you are asking yourself, as I am, "What can I do to help?", please consider making a donation to the future of these two children.

You can read more about the circumstances and the trust fund here, and here.

One down, One to go

I thought this day would never come.  Finally, I have a sock that fits Hubby's foot.   Not too big, not too small, not too frou-frou, this sock is just right.   Now all I have to do is make another one.

What's on your needles?

Chez Serenity
16May13

NE Florida has really woken up.   The weather has been so nice that outside knitting has once again become a daily joy.

Ridgely has been on hold for the last week.  While knitting with the girls last Thursday, I put it down on the table, leaned on it funny (or not so funny) and snapped the needles right in half.   New tips were ordered from KnitPicks and I am expecting them any day now.

In the meantime, I have been working on my blue Euroflax Linen Tunic.   The back is finished, which leaves just the front shoulders to do.   For the most part I am very much a process knitter but in this case I am really anxious to wear this project.   I can see it now over my black jersey capris.

Also getting a lot of attention is my black Comfy Fingering Simple Joys Shawl.   I am still working on the seed stitch edging.   This is another project that I am as anxious to wear as I am to knit.

So, tell me, what's on your needles?

Peace, Love, & Knitting

Kylie & Simba

Today was just one of those days.   By that I mean one of those lovely days that feed your soul.   I spent all day knitting with a human friend and snuggling with canine friends.   A comfy seat, good company, the sounds of a waterfall, and warmth, literally and figuratively.  Everyday should be this nice.

Happy Mother's Day!

Yay, Mother's Day.   If all goes according to plan, I should be enjoying a relaxing day at home as you read this.  Sleeping late, breakfast in bed, presents, Oh please let the day go as planned.

Yesterday, was my mom's turn.   We picked her up and headed to St. Augustine for lunch, shopping and Starbucks. The day went really, really well.   The weather was gorgeous, She loved her presents (a Hurrycane & flowers), enjoyed her lunch at the Columbia, and found a dress she liked while shopping.   We were able to deliver her home fairly early with a smile on her face.  Success, I'll take it.

As you can see, Hubby's sock is coming right along.   Once the heel was done, I measured it against his foot and, YAY!, it is perfect.    Now the leg and ribbing and it's another success for me.

Tangled webs

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again  and expecting different results. - Albert Einstein

Much has been written about the lies we knitters tell ourselves.  Still, like the insane in Dr. Einstein's quote, we continue to do it again and again, always hoping that this time it will be different.   At least I am in good company.

The last couple of weeks have been physically and emotionally trying.   Comfort knitting has been the order of the day.  With that in mind, I have been working on my black, Comfy fingering weight, Simple Joys Shawl.   Once done with the body, I was not much in the mood for ruffles so I decided to go with a seed-stitch border instead.   Sounds simple, right?    Well, it started out that way.  Then about six rows into it, I noticed that the stitches were not lining up correctly.  A couple of rows back, I had knit where I should have purled (or vice versa), thus messing up the stitch pattern (Damn!).  

I decided then and there that it would not bother me.  I would just continue on in the new pattern.   The shawl is for me and is meant as a casual thing to wear with jeans and/or yoga pants.   Totally, not worth the trouble of ripping back two long stitch rows.   That is what I kept telling myself while working two more rows.   I got only that far before, admitting the truth.  Not only did it show but it was bugging the heck (?) out of me.

In the end, rather than ripping back two rows, I ended up ripping back four and half row (lost track of  the error so ripped back an extra row just to be sure).   As you can see, all is as it should be now;  but I am frustrated by how much angst I could have saved myself if I had just admitted that I was not going to be happy until those rows were ripped out and stitch order restored.   

I'd love to say that I will never do this again, but I know I will.  Just call me crazy.

The song that never ends

Jax Beach 1May13

Those of you who read regularly know that T1 is being sued due to an auto accident he had almost two years ago (Oct '11).    In that time the driver of the other car settled with our insurance company but the passenger has not.  

For those new to the story, T1 ran a stop sign in Jacksonville.   A small car coming  through the intersection hit him hard enough to drag his '95 Park Avenue across the intersection and into a ditch (his car was totalled).   T1 did not see the stop sign (no excuse!) which was partially (but not totally) obscured by hanging branches.  

There is no doubt in my mind that T1 caused the accident or that the other driver was speeding.   Arguably, the passenger of the other car was the only one involved who was blameless.   However, despite injuries whose only medical treatment was four months of massage therapy, she is holding out for an obscene amount of money.

A couple of weeks after T1's accident I was rear ended while stopped at a red light.   "I am so sorry!  I did not expect you to stop at the red", these were the first words I heard from the young man who hit me.    I was dazed and my head hurt when the EMT's arrived.   I think the kid was more scared than I was when they strapped me to a back board and took me to the hospital (nothing broken just bruises and a concussion).   Within a couple of days, his insurance company contacted me and offered me money not to sue (over simplification but accurate).   My first question was "You want to give me money not to do something I was not going to do anyway?".   My brother says that I have shut up and taken the money.   You know what?   That is just not me.   Yes, we are having financial problems, BUT, Hubby has a good job, our problems are of our own making (whose aren't?), and we are blessed with adequate health insurance.   It took literally months for the nice insurance man to get me to take a minimal amount of money (the guys was really persistent).   I am not a saint.   If my injuries had been worse or my recovery longer, I would have happily fought for what I deserved.   But they were not (thank heavens) and it is not in me to be unnecessarily litigious.   As a mom, and as someone who believes in doing the right thing just because it is the right thing, I am disgusted with this woman's demands.

We went to mediation today.   Nothing was settled.   I was so hoping that this would be the end.   Now it looks like we may go to court in October.

P.S.  Since the only photos I could have taken today would have been of our lawyer, insurance adjuster, T1 and myself sitting at a conference table drinking bottled water and munching on chips, I leave you with another shot taken on the beach last week.   It's pretty where we live.