Pischi Days

Jump

Our Thanksgiving was pretty low-key without Erik at the table. He spent a wonderful 3 days at the Skydive Lakeland watching divers from all over the planet attempt at and succeed at setting the world record canopy formation. My uncomplaining friend Jane is married to fervent skydiver, Jim. Jim was out to set a record. I’m sure he’s proud to say that they did it…twice.

Here are the pictures to prove it. The sunset dive was a record 81 way with the next mornings dive another record-breaking 85 way.

Erik said it was an incredible site. This is the link to the official page and "The List" of all those who jumped. We're so proud, Jim! Thanks for letting Erik be a part of you special day.

I Am Curious Yellow

Time has a way of getting away from me since Erik has started high school. Work has been equally overwhelming what with all the building going on coupled with the real estate prices at a 35% increase over last year.

Erik’s high school experience is still somewhat of a mystery to me. He doesn’t speak much. The classes are pedestrian; English, Algebra, German and Life Skills. Tomorrow is slated for an Open House. I hope to get some feedback then.

The Orlando Museum of Art has a great exhibition featuring the work of M.C. Escher. We chose to spend the afternoon browsing the galleries. I was surprised to find the Curious George exhibition still installed. I think that it was my favorite. Included were a great pair of socks knitted in white wool with a profile of George on each outer cuff. Apparently Mrs. Rey was a proficient knitter and needlewoman. Here needlepoint cushions were self-drawn with pictures of her husband drawing George. I just wish that I could have snuck a photo or two.

My knitting, although done as often as I can, seems to be going more slowly than I would like. I think that I have too many projects going at once. I have one sleeve left on the Tigger, can’t seem to pick up the Chutes and Ladders sock. Petite Chic is coming along at a steady pace and my Amble sock is labor intensive. I hope that I can finish the little sweater and the sock by the weekend. That way I only have 2 projects going.

I am still searching for the perfect yarn to go with my silver Anny Blatt. I bought some Crystal Palace yarn while I was in Macon. I guess that I need to swatch the pattern to see if the pattern will show. I don’t think that I’ve ever knit a swatch for anything in my knitting career.

Travel, Eat and Knit

Jane and I made the trek to Georgia to pick Erik up from camp and take him home again. Poor Jane endures an 80+mph ride to Macon in record time. We checked into the Crowne Plaza, ditched our stuff and explored the town. After an amble on Ingleside and a trip to too many antique shops and the Me & Thee yarn store, we had to try the Nu-Way Wiener stand on Cotton.

Jane and I were  fascinated by the radiating color of the Nu-Way. I had mine bathed in chili, while Jane had hers with mustard and ketchup. The chili had a distinct cinnamon flavor that was pretty tasty. The menu advertised “Flaky Ice” which sounded great since the day was a scorcher. When the waitress brought us our wieners and drinks, “Flaky Ice “turned out to be a Styrofoam cup of shaved ice. No liquid. No charge! Who knew that you were supposed to ask for water, soda, lemonade and the ice just happens to be flaky or shaved or whatever. Doesn’t “Flaky Ice” sound like it should be a slurpie or something like it?

We walked off our lunch by visiting shop of the shops downtown. Apparently Otis Reddings family runs several of the stores in the downtown area. Our favorite place was a vintage book store that offered up a fairly interesting selection of choices, no knitting patterns though. I bought an old chestnut called, “Our Deportment”. Printed in 1881, it intrigued me with some pretty timely advice on childrearing, making friend and manners in general. I really like the fashion advice, what to wearing when riding in a carriage, going to a ball, morning dress, afternoon dress and so on.

Erik was happy to see me, if only for a split second. We sat throught the closing ceremony, complete with dozens of half naked boys in various stages of war paint. The testosterone was everywhere. Drumbeats, a council fire, singing and reflections of the preceeding weeks. Jane snooped around the girls camp and marvelled at the luxury and the beucolic setting. The buildings are gorgeous brick structures, complete with turrets and whitewashed a bright white. The foundor apparently modelled the place after a farm in Normandy. She certainly succeeded. It defentately leaves you thinking that you're not in Georgia any more.

I’m current ly working on the Petite Chic dress from the Minnowknits book by Jil Eaton. I am using ancient Lustersheen in Natural and Winter Red. I have come to the conclusion that I just never seem to finish anything. The little striped sweater needs stitching up. The Chutes and ladder sock is ¾ ‘s done. I hate the yarn and the outcome of the sock so much; I loathe looking at it. The new sock “Amble“ sounds complex. I have sent off for the exact yarn specified, in a denim shade of blue along with 2 sets of DP’s in case I lose one along the way. Receiving and starting a new project is always my favorite part of the process.

Stormy Weather

Tom and I had a pretty hairy adventure on Saturday. We took the boat out to Ponce Inlet and beached on our little sandbar in the river. I was napping with I heard a distant rumble of thunder. Tom was reluctant to pack up but I convinced him that we should go. As soon as we were parallel to the party sandbar across from the inlet, the ocean suddenly became very rough. It took so many people by surprise. The lightning was cracking all around us and the waves were getting bigger as the rain started coming down in heavy drops. Soon the boats were flying past us creating more waves. We were hoping that we could stay on course so we could take shelter under the pink bridge. As we got closer, we saw a little Glastron boat swirling around in circles. The motor had evidently flooded and the 3 occupants were pretty scared. One of them was a little boy about 8. Tom turned back into the storm and after several tries to throw them a rope and tow them we were successful and we were able to make it under the bridge. There was another boat there with the passengers clinging to the concrete wall with their fingers because there were no cleats to tie up to. The current was so strong and we had this extra boat we were trying to tow that it took many attempts to make it to the wall where we too hung on for dear life. We all clung to the wall for about 45 minutes until the storm passed us. I will say that I don’t pray much, but I did that afternoon. I thought Erik and hoped that we would make it home safely. The people on the boat thanked us over and over. They had been out there with boats whizzing by and no one wanting to take a chance to rescue them until we came along. It was a good feeling to have, knowing that people will help each other in times of danger. I wondered what Erik would have made of the day had he been with us.

My poor blog has been languishing and needs some attention. So I have taken time to photograph my progress and get things up to date.

On the knitting front...my stash, the one I didn't think I had has been sorted. I  took heavy measures and scissors and threw away yarn and sweater fronts and acks.These had not been touched since the very early '80's!

 

I did salvage some old Lustersheen from Woolworth's, my old job in my '20's . I not much on the Fabulous Flattery pattern. I think that its a size 6. Instead, I will transform it into a sweet little sweater dress called "Petite Chic" in the Minnowknits book. My quandary is whether to knit the body red with ivory dots or visa versa.

I have posted progress on my other projects on the right. My Tricotine sweater is in need of seams and the Chutes and Ladders socks are looking somewhat deformed but I am so over this pattern and the yarn that I'm moving on. I shopped for new yarn for the August KAL and have settled on Lorna's Laces Shepard wool in denim. Connie says the nothing says "Fall" more than denim sock and a pair of loafers. I was at a loss so I agreed!

Wish I Was There

I measure my time in weekends. This one brought with it heat, humidity and  no rain. Tom has purchased more plants for the back garden. He added podocarpis and heliconia to the mix. Eventually the mishappen oak tree will have to go. I spent my time repotting all the orchids. Perhaps they will grace us with a few blooms now that they've had some care.

Jane stayed at the Nightswan for the weekend. She was able to wangle a weekend alone with nothing to do but read magazines and wander the town aimlessly. Tom and I found the inn  while boating along the Halifax a few years ago. We've stayed there twice and enjoyed being able to have the boat at the front door. I was graciously asked to join forces for dinner and some shopping (alas, no yarn shops).  

Dinner was at the Spanish River Grill, a small latin restaurant tucked away in a shopping plaza.

Here is proof that I plod along knitting these socks. I hope that I can meet the deadline.

Stormy Weather

In honor of the upcoming storm...

Just a note of explination. The photo is of my cousin, Dennis, many times removed. His father sent me a picture of his recent confirmation. The timing was right. Hurricane Dennis was justly named and I couldn't resist a montage. I am working through a PhotoShop tutorial. This was perfect practice.

The 4th Already

That must mean that Tuesday is just around the corner, as is work.

We were invited to the Keane's for a barbecue. The evening was surprisingly pleasant. The food was great! The menu contained brats, mojo chicken, pasta salad, grilled zucchini and summer squash, plenty of desserts and white sangria.  Mike was the grillmeister.

Here are Jan and Maria, posing in front of the dessert.

Backyard chitchat, that's Tom and the neighbor.

The fireworks were pretty god, albeit noisy and too close for comfort at times. Good thing that Maria and her sister Rosy are in the nursing profession. When 14 year olds set off fireworks, anything can happen. I'm glad the debris was not at our house for a change.

Long Deserved Weekend

We have been unencumbered by the work-a-day world since Thursday. Our days have been spent gardening, futzing, cleaning, watching movies, knitting, cooking and eating. not always in that order.

I have made much progress on my scarf, the one that I swore I would not start until some of my other projects were complete. I started the scarf because Nancy and I went to a KraftMaid seminar. I wanted something that was easy and not brain engaging. Knitting in garter stitch, 18 across fit the bill. I knitted through most of the presentation. Good thing too, since the information was not new and I would have been really pissed if I had nothing else to do and felt trapped. I have to add the fringe but here is the finished project.

We're on the boat again, can you tell? I have also received the 6 skeins of Anny Blatt Vintage in Argent silver. still need more, the same woman who sold me this lot on eBay posted 4 more. I wish that I would have thought to ask if she had more. Here I go through the bidding again! Finding a complimentary yarn will be more of a challenge. The sweater that I want to make has an edge-band of a fuzzy eyelash type of yarn. Black should not be too much of a problem, I hope.

I still haven't started my 2nd Chutes n' Ladders sock. The Tricotine baby sweater is going well thus far. I have started the front.

Boating was a crap-shoot today. We won. the weather cooperated long enough for us to launch the boat at Morningside Park in Sanford. We headed north up the St. John's, past Blue Springs to Hontoon Island. The heat was incredible and I had to jump in and brave the gators a couple of times. I made Tom take me far into the middle of the lake. On board was a little stowaway that I captured and released into the water.

UV Factor 10

With Erik at camp, Tom and I have the weekend and the boat to ourselves. The weather has been very wet and Sunday came as a pleasant sunny surprise. The boat launch traffic at River Breeze in Edgewater was fairly light so we were off in no time. We motored north on the Halifax toward Ponce Inlet. After passing under the overpass and around Bouchelle Island Tom looked up we saw this unusual rainbow behind the clouds. I'm surprised that my camera captured the colors.

and again...

They look fake, don't they?

As far as knitting, I took 3 projects, all of which I had left either a needle, the contrast yarn or the instructions at home. So I improvised and unraveled a sock for the CIC, not in the C&L pattern and began knitting to comply!

Off to Camp

Erik and I made the long trip to Camp WinShape in Rome, GA leaving Titusville at 4:00 AM. The trip really wasn't as bad as we both expected it to be. I was dreading it because Tom, still recovering from surgery, couldn't come with us and Erik was equally worried that he had to spend endless hours in the car with his mother! He has a smile on his face because we stopped for breakfast at the Georgia border.  Hope fully Tom will be feeling up to travel when the time comes to pick him up at the end of July.

After getting the heave ho from my son, I swear the dropping off process to less time than taking him to school, I drove south again and spent the night in Macon. What a great little town. The downtown area is beautiful, albeit empty on a Father's Day Sunday evening. I drove up and down the streets and saw a wealth of homes that must have been built in the late 1800's. The prices are reasonable as well. Tom and I are going to be looking for a second home somewhere in Georgia, preferably on the water. I had visited a local B&N bookstore and spent 2 hours browsing, mostly for things to tuck into camp care packages. I looked into the local interest section for places to eat, not wanting to eat at the chains. I ended up at an buffet downtown eating fried green tomatoes, fried chicken, fried crab...you get the drift. It was all delicious though.

Macon has a great yarn shop, Me & Thee, on Ingleside. I had a great conversation with the owner and bought some Berrocco yarns to make a sparkly scarf, cotton sock yarn for socks and a Reynolds pattern for another baby sweater. I still have Penguin ribbon cotton that I bought on a trip to  New York in '82 I think. The stuff is bright orange and I have a skein of black. The sweater should be cute though.

When I got home I had to start on the sweater right away. Fining needle is always a problem form me. It seems that in the tangled messy mass, I never have the right size. I found some in a box of yarn, a place that I had the ancient Penguin for the sweater. There are unfinished projects dating back to 1980. All in a tangle. Be for I buy anything else, I promise that I will untangle mess and actually attempt to find patterns to use up some of this stuff. Really!

3 Days Off!

I love a 3 day weekend! It could have been 4 but my conscience got the better of me and work beckoned. The work is piling up on my drawing board at the office.

I spent Saturday catching up on the mounds of laundry. I increased my Netflix membership to 5 DVD's! Just for the summer, of course. So I spent hours in front od old episodes of Mapp and Lucia and a TV series I hadn't heard of until it appeared in my Netflix recommendations, Firefly. I'm not usually interested in sci-fi but this one is pretty good and anything that holds my interest while ironing is worth renting.

Finally had a chance to take the boat out. The dock was packed and so were the waterways. The weather was warm and our trip down the Halifax river was great. Erik and his friend Michael enjoyed tubing. Our friends, Nancy and Jerry met us on their jet ski complete with their lab, Mandy.

I finished crocheting a little string grocery bag out of Lily Sugar n' Cream cotton while on our trip. My next project will be a  pair of socks from the Sock Kal that I joined a few months ago. The new series is beginning on Tuesday and I am curious to see what kind of pattern it is and if I can complete the project in the time given!

Tonight we're going to EPCOT'S flower and garden festival. This time I will take my camera. Their hanging baskets are always so impressive.