Happy Halloween! And Happy Birthday to my pal SB who moved in 2004 from Philly to RI. Still missing you, girlfriend! Wishing you joy, love, cool yarns, thumping good reads (i.e. good books!), beach days & nights & lots of XOXO.
Some folks seem to dislike, & w/great intensity!, Daylight Savings Time. I do miss that extra hour of sleep that we lose every Spring. Then again I love the extra hour of sleep that we regain in the Fall. And did I ever love having it this past week-end! Oh my, it made a difference for me.
We really are so sleep deprived, aren't we? I cannot remember when I last took a NAP - hmmm, fall is a good time for more naps, eh?
The Knitter's Review Retreat happens this week-end & it is such a highlight for me. This is the 4th annual one & my 4th annual one. When I attended the 1st one, I was as nervous as someone who was hired to herd cats: I would be driving to VA to a week-end of knitting, I was a novice knitter (the word novice may give me more credit than I deserved), I knew no one there in the fact that I had not seen/met any one of them in person & I wanted to be a knitter w/the greatest of desires.
Some of the folks I would be meeting had been Knitter's Review Forum email pen-pals & for other ones, I knew them from their posts on the KR Forum. Before the Retreat I had written an email to Clara to ask her if I could help out by handling the Registration Desk for her. Having run the registration desks for a few professional pet care sitters conventions (including two years of the gatherings that were for PA & NJ pet sitters), I knew the basics & hoped I could do a good job for Clara. Lucky me, she said yes!
My anxiety & excitement for the Retreat could be channeled, I believed, if I had some sort of a "job" or task - I could meet folks, say how do, help out (I am a Virgo after all) & find a way to basically deal w/my tummy butterflies. It helped so much!
Folks were so happy to be there, so eager to meet Clara (me too!), so glad to meet each other & so excited to be in a roomful of WOMEN WHO KNIT. Who could ask for anything more, we tho't. (An annual Retreat maybe?)
For me one of the very big, first day highlights was the sight of Bess walking through the door of the meeting room, arms spread wide for a hug & a beautiful smile on her beautiful face. It was a validation, a moment that spoke to me & said two things: "You're going to be OK - you're here among friends." & be inspired to share this experience w/other people & especially knitters.
At this Retreat I will be seeing some long time pals (four years is too a long time!) as well as meeting some brand new pals.
We have a swap table & folks bring items like yarns, fiber, knitting tools, books, 'zines - you get the idea. We bring what we would like to pass along to others & by bringing items to share, we get to take things from the Swap Table. My bag of pass-along yarns is ready to go. If you wonder what happens to the left-overs, here's the plan: at the other Retreats, I have brought home all the remaining items which are sent to a local PA non-profit that works w/Native Americans on reservations who are being taught to knit.
There are a few projects that are in the running for what I will work on while I am there. Of course I always take more things to do than I will do - that's OK as I'll have a choice, right? And the items are easy ones as I'll be busy spending time w/ pals - listening & talking - & knitting as we gab away - thus, mindless knitting is important!
I hope to start the packing of clothing tonight or tomorrow. The weather is shaping up to be in the 60s during the day & in the 40s at night.
The New Beginnings project choice is still percolating & I may end up taking more than one new, exciting project for this Sunday AM event.
A will be here, doing his usual ab fab care of the house & of course, Natalie & Jeremy. Thanks, babe.

Since the extraordinary, wonderful & beautiful Bess has tagged me, I guess that this entry will come before a post about the adventures at & joys of Rhinebeck ^..^
10 YEARS AGO
Hmmm. As to the specifics, sorry - just not going to remember them. As to generalities, I was pet care sitting full-time. My clients at that time consisted of cats & dogs (plus the exotics that always populate a professional pet sitting practice - birds, fish, hamsters, etc.) as I was seven months away from the dog walk incident that damaged my knees & led to later knee surgery.
5 YEARS AGO
Being a fall b'day baby, I had just had my 50th b'day. We celebrated it in a very low key fashion. At the time I tho't that I would have a b'day gathering in 2001 - we know that 9/11 which is a week before my b'day changed our lives forever. I did not feel that a party was a good thing to do.
1 YEAR AGO
Rhinebeck was just past - it was the 1st big festival for me to work w/Jen at her glorious Spirit Trail Fiberworks booth. Shelia, being one of the best booth babes a person could encounter, & Jen were ab fab in the booth. I learned so much from listening to them - I soaked up lots of knowledge about fibers & yarns - I marveled at the info that came tripping across their tongues as they helped Jen's many customers. My "job" at the check-out table allowed me to do something I like a lot - deal w/people.
The three of us shared a hotel room w/Amie. We ate our dinners together, laughed a lot, talked a lot, sold a lot of yarn & fiber, took care of Norman, Amie's car, after he was hit by a driver in the parking lot of our restaurant.
After Rhinebeck, I began to prepare for a most terrific week-end, the Knitter's Review Retreat.
What a lucky duck I tho't I was - two yarn & fiber extravaganzas in one season.
FIVE SNACKS
Fruit, Bearitos Tortilla Chips, peanuts, cheese, olives
FIVE SONGS I KNOW ALL THE WORDS TO
I'll list some of the singer-songwriters whose songs I love & know:
Smokey Robinson, Chris Smither, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Brown, Carol King (plus James Taylor)
FIVE THINGS I WOULD DO WITH $100 MILLION
Donate money to a bunch of charities like Quilts for Comfort, Doctors w/out Borders & a variety of health & companion animal related groups
Pay off our house mortgage
Help out friends who are having money challenges
Buy land in the Pacific Northwest & build a house w/a screened-in porch, a garden, a room for all my quilting-knitting-spinning stuff & lots of garage space for A
Buy two bags of freshly popped popcorn & ponder what else to do w/the money
FIVE PLACES TO RUN AWAY TO
Pacific Northwest
Vermont
Canada
Scotland/Ireland/England/Wales
Italy
FIVE THINGS I WILL NEVER WEAR
Real fur
Thong
Leather pants
A bikini
Stiletto heels
FIVE FAVORITE TV SHOWS
Sports Night (the wonderful Aaron Sorkin show)
Homicide: Life On The Streets
Simply Quilts
Masterpiece Theater
Mystery on PBS
FIVE BIGGEST JOYS
My oh-so-special lovebugs & pals here at home who are my family of choice, A, Natalie & Jeremy
My friends who are, in addition to the above, my other family of choice
Knitting & quilting (when I get my spinning wheel next year, you can add that to this too!)
Reading
Being out-of-doors & being in touch w/Mother Nature
FIVE FAVORITE TOYS
Knitting needles
My Bernina sewing machine
The computer
The internet
Garden tools
FIVE PEOPLE TO PASS THIS TO
Shelia
Rebecca
Catherine
Ryan
Patience

If it's October, it must be time for the New York State Sheep & Fiber Festival - for shorthand, many folks just utter the word Rhinebeck - a little like Rosebud perhaps?
Last year I attended for the very first time & not only did I attend, I worked in the booth for the fabulous Jennifer & her company, Spirit Trail Fiberworks. The talented & generous Shelia was her other booth babe. They know yarns & fiber, as my g'mother would say, like no body's business - i.e. very very well. And Jen's yarns are hand-dyed & uniquely beautiful. Her fibers are rare & beautiful. Who could ask for anything more?
The Yarn Harlot will be at Jen's booth to sign her new books! Stop by the booth to find out when Stephanie will be there. She is not to be missed.
Two KR buds, Purlewe & Not Plain Jane are attending the Festival & I hope to see them both. Any other KR folks, please stop by & see us - introduce yourself!
If you attend Rhinebeck, do stop by to see CountryWool - Claudia has wonderful spinning & knitting supplies.
A will be here, looking out for Natalie & Jeremy & their kitty needs. Thanks much, babe.

Wouldn't it be great to have lots & lots of knitting news? (Was that the sound of a buzzer that indicates that recently very little knitting has happened for me? Yep.) I did knit on my sweater at the Spinning Guild meeting. I do not have an easy to transport wheel yet & the Ashford is staying right here at home. That baby is a homebody, doesn't want to travel, no sir, no ma'm, no nothin'.
Monday evening I attended my quilt group meeting. This group began many years ago & I have been a member for six or seven years. There were more members when they began & as w/life, changes took place. Some folks moved away, two had a baby & then another, people got busier & busier, quilting took a back seat for them.
For many years there were four of us & we were quite content, thank you for asking, to hang out from September to June w/a once a month meeting. Then L was transferred by her job to Iowa - we still miss her - & we have stayed at three folks since. M & D (& L too) are incredible quilters - all have strengths & some of them are different. I have often felt that I have had the best of the best as I am the one w/the least experience & I have learned from three cool, accomplished, strong quilters.
On Wednesday evening Purlewe & I went to the Spinning Guild meeting at the Philadelphia Guild of Handweavers. Purlewe & I try to meet for dinner before the meetings as it gives us time for face to face chatting & catching up. She & I met on-line in the Knitter's Review Forum, became friends on line & then at the Tangled Web's Knit-ins. Then the friendship further blossomed by meet-ups at the NY Sheep & Wool Festival & the Knitter's Review Retreat where she was a big hit w/the other Retreatees. We were in the same spinning class last Spring at PGHW & she took to it like a cat to a saucer of milk (you didn't think I'd do the duck to H2O thing, did you?). Her quality of yarns, her knowledge, her skill - this woman is doing beautiful spinning.

A voicemail message for one of my clients always made me smile - on it, she said "A little good news please!" Ain't it the truth.
And in that vein from the goldmine, let's celebrate the birth of Kate, Boogie Knits & her husbeast's new little babe. You can see a beautiful photo & read more at her blog.
Hope Mom, Dad & big sis are doing well & getting so much needed sleep - we know their smile muscles are getting a workout. Congratulations.

From the wonderful blog of the wonderful Purlewe ...

another type of MEME

1) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, liposuction and air conditioning.

2) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

3) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

4) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

5) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Brittany Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.

6) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.

7) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

8) Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.

9) Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

10) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans...
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Re-post this if you believe in legalizing gay marriage

'nuff said!