Rockin' Sock Club!

My June installment has arrived!! I LOVE the yarn!!

Should I post details? I don't want to spoil it for anyone who is waiting for theirs but reads my blog. I don't think anyone is in it that comments regularly.

Let me know!

Under the weather

I have been fighting something. I had classic UTI symptoms, but the culture came back negative. So, who knows. I've been on an antibiotic since Monday morning and I am feeling better. I slept 14 hours last night and called in sick today. That has seemed to help. I HATE being sick! Alright, enouch kvetching. I'm gonna go veg on the couch and watch some tv.

Knitting Knirvana

OK, so the name of my blog is "Knitting Knirvana", but I think I actually found it. Knitting Knirvana that is. The weekend knitting retreat was just that, Knitting Knirana.



The site was Wiawaka. A beautiful parcel of land nestled on the southern tip of Lake George. If you know anything about Lake George, you know it is an absolutely gorgeous setting. Wiawaka has a long, rich history. The Trask family set up the property to be used as a vacation spot for women working in textile mills in Troy and Cohoes. These women normally wouldn't be able to afford a vacation. Perfect setting for a women's knitting retreat for so many reasons.



Katherine Wardle was our organizer. This woman is amazing. She carefully planned every gourmet meal and various refreshments. Her cooking is amazing! She is a professional Chocolatier and supplied endless amounts of chocolates that you would have thought were bought at Godiva. Katherine brought out two-triple layer lime chiffon cakes for MaryBeth and my birthdays complete with candles and singing. She thought of literally everything to make our experience the best it could possibly be. She even brought her own Ott Lites for us to use!



The women were a very interesting and diverse bunch! I knew three other women from Saratoga Needle Arts' classes--MaryBeth, Jude, and Kathy. I was also looking forward to finally meeting Diana. Diana was my first ever blog commenter and encouraged me to move over to Blogger and really exercise my blogging muscle. Diana came with her friend Susan. MaryBeth, Jude, Diana, Susan and I spent most of the weekend together. We ate, enjoyed the scenery, belted out LOTS of old songs, cast on, ripped out, and even managed a little knitting. We laughed, and laughed, and tried not to pee our pants! We completely clicked and had such a good time together.



Susan casted on 541 stitches for a shawl. Twice. She was knitting along and realized that she made a mistake and she was better off ripping out and starting over. We all gasped and tried to reason with her that there must be another way to fix the mistake. She very bravely calmed us all down and started the ripping. And the casting on. We have challenged her to wear the shawl at the next retreat in September.



Diana made several attempts to knit a sweater from Knitty. Her printer cut off half of the pattern. So she called Mr. Effer and asked for his assistance in reading the pattern to her. Poor Mr. Effer was promised many things for his cooperation and I think he was just completely excited and distracted. He read the pattern wrong. Diana finally gave up on it Saturday night and resorted to sock knitting. Another highlight of the weekend is when a great big grasshopper landed on Diana's chest and stared up at her. Diana SCREAMED! MaryBeth, Susan, and I died in hysterics while Jude bravely removed the grasshopper. Oh, and Diana has a broken foot and was on Loritab. She used great concentration watching an ant for about 10 minutes. Loritab is fun stuff!

Jude, MaryBeth, and I knitted on Clapotis. I also started a Chevron Scarf and MaryBeth started a sweater for my baby.

One of my highlights of the weekend is when we all went down to the dock to watch the fireworks. We had it on good authority (from Joe that works at Wiawaka) that their would be fireworks on Saturday night at 9:30pm. The entire retreat gathered on the dock to watch the marvelous display. Let's just say that at about 9:45 we decided that Joe was sadly mistaken and started making jokes about the fireworks that weren't. I decided that it was all a scam and Joe was probably stealing all of our yarn while we waited for the fireworks.

The next day, Jude, MaryBeth and I met at Ye Olde Yarn Shoppe in Schenectady. One of the women that works at the store was at the retreat and she told us that the store was closing and everything is 50% off. I picked up Noro Kuyeon for two Booga Bags, Classic Elite Cotton for four baby hats from Itty Bitty Hats, and some Debbie Bliss yarn and books for baby clothes. What a sale!

The weekend was absolutely fabulous from Friday to Monday. I strongly recommend going again in September. I've already paid my deposit!!

PS I actually have some photos, but my computer isn't recognizing my camera. Man, why can't we all just get along!!

Knitting Retreat!

I am heading out momentarily for my knitting retreat weekend. I am so unbelievably excited!! I have packed sooo much stuff. Sheets, blanket, pillow, clothes, knitting projects, magazines, books, towels, etc. I feel like I'm going for a week!

I'll give you all the details next week.

Emotional!

Yup, it is a new side effect of pregnancy. My emotions. Holy cow this is a roller coaster!

Thursday, I was so angry that I was literally shaking because of a VERY snarky and insulting email I received from someone that I work with. I called my supervisor in need of some advice on how to respond without sounding as furious as I felt. She offered me some great advice and then heaped on the compliments to convince me that this issue belongs to the other person, not me. I immediately turned into a weeping mess.

Friday, I had my second OB appointment. I heard the heartbeat. I can not even begin to put words to these emotions. I smiled as broad as my cheeks would let me while tears streamed down my face. My doctor said that she always loves to watch the mothers' faces at this moment, and mine did not disappoint.

Saturday, I was all upset with my husband and I can't even exactly figure out why. I just was. So, when I decided to tell him why I was upset with him and he tried to politely explain that it must be a misunderstanding because he did not see it the way I did. I burst into tears. I told him that I was really not this upset, it was the hormones, and left the room. He followed me, hugged me, and told me that this is supposed to be a happy time and I am doing a wonderful job managing pregnancy even though it is really difficult.

Sunday, I am thinking about the knitting retreat coming up and the Blue Moon Fiber Arts yarn that hasn't arrived yet. I am going to make a clapotis with a friend and I am thinking about what I will do if it doesn't arrive in time. I decide to log in and see if there is any shipping information. I am ecstatic to read that it arrived in my town this morning, so I should have it tomorrow.

I feel like I need to wear a sign around my neck that says, "Please plan on my emotions being completely out of sync with whatever else is happening. I apologize and I know it is a complete and total over reaction."

Now, I totally tear up as I proofread this post. I keep telling myself--at least the nausea is gone! :)