You know how when you were a kid time seemed to drag by.  A whole summer was a time that lasted forever! And the thought of being in school until you were 18 just made you seem really, really old?  Those were wonderful days weren’t they?  I loved being a kid just for that reason – time seems to slow down and give us time to just be kids.  But then something happens and time speeds up – kind of like a cruel way of saying “OK!  Time to stop being a kid and grow UP!”.  Time flies by now a days and I just don’t know where it goes.  I’m wondering if I’m going to look back on this post in 10 years a think “HA! – you only thought time was speeding by but now it is moving at the speed of light!”.

Well it seems like just yesterday that I was introduced to a little boy named Keaton.  I met him the day after he was born (December 31, 2002) (he was born really, really late in the day and thought it would be nice to give Lori and Michael some time to rest seeing as how she was in labor with him for 2 whole days) and the first time I held him I knew he was the cutest little bug ever.  I had not planned on calling him that but he sure has grown into that name.  I’m just waiting for the day that he questions why, exactly, do I call him a “bug” – but that day hasn’t arrived yet.  For now I’m just content to know that as soon as he lost his first tooth (lower) I was on the top of the list of people he wanted to tell.  Now that is a wonderful thing.

(I actually have some pictures of him taken just days before the tooth fell out and I’ll post them soon.)

Tomorrow I am going on vacation.  I’m not sure why I call it a vacation – I’m going to be with family and probably not get much rest, hence not a “real” vacation.  As you may know my sister, Kris, just had a baby – Gabby (aka Peanut) – and I’m going to be staying with them for a week.  Now I love my sister, and I will absolutely LOVE being with both of my nieces, but let’s be honest.  This won’t be a real vacation.

A real vacation would be a trip up to the Michigan peninsula to photograph lighthouses or a trip to the beach to just “chill”, or a few days in a cabin in the middle of nowhere.  That would be a vacation.  But going home to be with family who will then in turn demand work from me is not a holiday.

Now, with all that negativity said, I am so looking forward to going home.  I haven’t been home since Thanksgiving.  I’m hoping I can talk my dad into making our traditional 4th of July meal – his ribs, potato salad, garlic bread, baked beans, corn on the cob and pie for desert – mmmmmm, delicious!  Or maybe I can make some of Mom’s mac and cheese for Olivia.   I will also get my fair share of cable going – both Kris and Mom & Dad have TiVo so I can tape all the knitting shows that are on at 3:30 AM.  Oh – and I can sleep late.  How great is that?

Can’t wait….24 hours from now I’ll be leaving the college…..there’s no place like home.

I mentioned last week that I’ve lived in the Chicago area now for 7 whole years.  I was so blessed by finding a church home almost immediately.  Within 7 weeks of moving here I found a church and a small group.  That first small group of friends are still very important to me.

One of the couples in that first group was Ed and Karen.  They are a few years older than me, so I would place them in their mid-40′s.  Karen has had a plethora of illnesses.  She had open heart surgery when she was 36.  She has lupus, had been dealing with an open ulcer on her leg for at least the last 7 years and was diagnosed last year with leukemia.  From the very beginning of our relationship Karen has been nothing short of strong and positive.  I got a call from Lori (via Ed) last night saying that Karen’s leukemia is back and the prognosis is not good.  2 months?

So Lori and I went to see her in the hospital but they were in the process of releasing her.  We didn’t want to bother them at home but Ed said that we could be of some use while went to fill her prescriptions.  She was in the hospital this week because of pneumonia.

She is perhaps one of the strongest women that I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing and I am honored to be her friend.  May God bless her and her family in the months to come.

I blogged a few weeks ago about the “stash” that I’m trying hard not to add to.  This is due mainly to the fact that I’m going to attempt to purchase a house next year and I figured that this is one of those things that I don’t actually need….re: there is a difference between “need” and “want” (or so my Mom has always *tried* to teach me…perhaps not a lesson well learned).  Well, if you read my post from last week, you’ll know that I went to the Midwest Folk and Fiber Art Fair on Saturday with Kate.  We went mostly because we went last year and, hey, It’s always good to see what’s out there, right?

The MFFAF was wonderful.  There were easily twice as many vendors as last year.  Because of this the location was moved a near by community college.  Part of the Fair was outside and part was inside.  I really liked the inside part, mostly because walking on uneven ground for long periods of time really bothers my knee (it is still bothering me from 5 days ago!).  I have to say that I restrained myself really, really well.  I only purchased 4 skeins of yarn, 2 books and 2 bars of handmade soap.  The books were totally unnecessary and this was the only thing I really splurged on could have lived with out.  There were novels about knitting and not even real knitting books.

But, what I did find was the PERFECT yarn for my SSMO!  The vendor had a garment made with this colorway and when I saw it I knew that it was going to be for Mom.  Since she periodically pipes in here and since this is a Super Secret Mom Object, I’m going to post the pictures on Ravelry (my name is tjbrice over there) and I should have some pictures up soon. 

The thing that I really liked about the MFFAF was that it was about art – anything that has to do with fiber.  They had a juried art show along with all the vendors selling their wares, and it was really, really cool to walk around and see all sorts of quilted wall hangings, wet felting hangings and all sorts of other fine art objects. 

Oh, and I also got to pet an alpaca.  I’ll post a picture tomorrow.  Stay tuned!

(PS – my mom has sugested that I re-acronym the SSMO to the SoSSMO: the “sort of super secret mom object”.  Nice idea Mom, but for the sake of sanity brevety, I’ll just keep it as it is.  Thanks for the suggestion, though.)

I’m going to talk about that subject which I can’t talk about.  The Super Secret Mom Object.  I posted a few days ago about the thing that I’m going to make for my Mom, but I can’t tell my Mom what it is.  Well, more accurately I can’t tell her about the object’s size, yarn, color or pattern, or rather I can talk about those things as long as she doesn’t hear about them or see them.  And since she doesn’t read my blog all that frequently, this should not be a huge problem.  So for now on I’m going to refer to this project as the SSMO.

The pattern for the SSMO calls for worsted weight yarn, which seems a little much for me.  So I purchased a fingering weight yarn – a much better yarn for this shawl (my Mom at least knows that it is going to be a shawl, she just doesn’t know what it will look like – that’s the secret part).  Just to get a better guess as to the modifications that I’m going to need to make on account of the yarn substitution, I swatched with a worsted and now I’m in the process of swatching with the fingering weight.  HUGE difference.  I’m working with a size 4 needles with the fingering weight and I think I either need to use wooden needles (to prevent loops from falling off) or to go up a size so that I can knit tighter.

The first part of the pattern is a series of repeats and I’m going to swatch 2 full repeats and then bind off and take measurements.  Hopefully I was smart in purchasing 3 skeins of this yarn instead of 2 and should have p-l-e-n-t-y of yarn to adjust for yarn weight and the length of the shawl.

I am really surprized as how quickly the swatch process is going.  I did the worsted swatch in about 1.5 hours and about 2 for the fingering swatch.  If the pattern is going to seriously be this easy to master then I just might (***just ***might***) be able to make one for little sis too in time for Christams.  Won’t that be special?

Saturday, July 19 was my 7 year anniversary.  I’ve lived in the Chicagoland area for 7 years.  Whew has time flown by.  I made the move from Atlanta for several reasons, most of which are too personal to put on a semi-impersonal blog, but suffice it to say that whatever the reason, I have been blessed in the last 7 years.

Here are some highlights:

1.  Michael, Lori and Bug.  I met Michael and Lori approximately 5 weeks after moving here and they have quickly become my family.  They are my anchor in a city where I know very few people.  About 18 months after meeting them they had a baby, Bug as I call him, and they honored me by asking me to be his Godmother.  What can I say?  Friends like that don’t come around all that often.

2.  Trinity.  One of the primary reasons for moving here was to attend Seminary.  I was actually torn between Wheaton Graduate school and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, one I had heard lots about and the other I knew virtually nothing about.  I chose the lesser, Trinity, and have not regretted that decision.  The professors are diverse and all are well known in their respective fields.  I couldn’t have asked for a better school or better professors.  Well, except for Mark Noll who is at Wheaton.  Or Doug Moo who is also at Wheaton.  Other than them (and the fact that Wheaton is not actually a seminary), Wheaton holds nothing on Trinity.

3.  Knitting.  I have to put this one on the list because it is here that I’ve learned to knit and crochet.  I would wager that if I had not moved up to the far northern suburbs, I would not have met Joanna and thus never learned to knit.  I’ve latched onto knitting, as opposed to paper crafts or photography, because of its high portability.  It is kind of difficult to take a darkroom with you to the doctor’s waiting room and it is rather cumbersome to carry all the paper craft supplies around town.  Thus knitting/crocheting are the perfect keep-your-brain-working-and-your-hands-busy-too hobby.

4.  Winter.  Now I realize that most people will cringe with this one, I mean who would put freeeeeezing cold, dark, dreary, ugly winters on their top 5 favorite things list?  Me.  Seeing as how I grew up in Tuscon where winter is literally 6 weeks long and rarely goes below 40 in the day time (=little snow), and then I moved to Atlanta where winter is probably a good 4 months (=still little snow although considerably more than Tuscon), I feel like I have some snow making up to do.  I have not been disappointed.  Even when I have shovel myself out of a 3 foot drift so that I can go to work. :- )

5.  Lake Michigan.  This one really surprized me.  I didn’t really think that the lake would be one of my favorite things here, but I have to say that I do think this is true.  I have blonde hair and fair skin and therefore I burn at even the mention of sun, but the lake, just knowing that it is there, is pretty cool.  Someday I’ll own a boat.  Gar-unteed (as Justin Wilson used to say).

Thank you Chicagoland, I’ve enjoyed the last seven years.  Here’s to the next seven.

I’m fickle.  Or maybe just a girl.  But I’ve changed my mind (again).  I am fascinated with the idea of making a shawl – one for my Mom, one for my Sister and one for ME.  I’m not sure why, but they (the shawls) seem like such practical things – they are light, fluffy, cozy and highly portable.  They are the perfect thing to take to the movies (we all know that movie theaters are FREEZING), or to a live theater, or just for a walk in the fall when it is too chilly for a t-shirt and too warm for a full blown jacket.  Who wouldn’t want a shawl?

So I started making a shawl for my Mom 2 summers ago.  It is nearly 3 feet long, which is nearing the home stretch, but it has one major flaw.  I need to frog about 20 rows and it is lace work and I don’t know how to do that.  I can’t knit backwards for 20 rows, so I’m rather at am impasse.  It has been sitting patiently for about a year now for me to figure out what to do with it.  But guess what?  I’ve figured it out.

I’m going to forget about it.

Yup, you read that correctly, I’ve decided NOT to finish the White Princess shawl.  Ever.

Because….

I found the PERFECT yarn this weekend and I’ve decided to make a different shawl for my Mom.  And then I’m going to find the perfect yarn for my Sister and make her the same shawl.  And…then I’m going to find the perfect yarn for me and make me the same shawl.  Three.  I’m going to make the three of us the same shawl.

So the ultra super secret part of this is that I don’t want my Mom to see it, and since she at times reads this blog (I would say she reads it every day, but I can’t, don’t know why) I can’t say too much about it.  But it is that shawl by the American designer that lives in France and the name of the shawl starts with a “C” and is pronounced in a very strange, french way.  I think you know which one I mean. 

I’ve wound the first skein and am ready to swatch…hopefully some time this week I can get to a store to get the right needles.

Dear Yarn and Yarn Vendors:

Thank you for participating in this weekend’s Crystal Lake Fiber Arts Fair.  Aside from you all and this weekend there is nothing else even remotely close to where I live that provides the excitement, novelty and fascination that you do.  There is the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival, but they are in another state and are about 2 hours away.  You’re much, much closer.

This year I’m thinking of spinning, so please have your answers ready (I don’t know what my questions are, but I’m sure that you’ve encountered people like me before and therefore already know what I’m going to ask). 

Also, I am really, really interested in building some stash this summer….oh, wait.  Never mind – I’ve self-imposed a non-stash building period of time through the end of the year.  So please DON’T tempt me with your wonderful yarns, I probably shouldn’t be buying them.

On second thought, perhaps I shouldn’t even come…after all I can’t really buy anything, so what’s the point?  Oh chuck it all – I’m going and you can’t stop me.  Just please, please wait for me….I’m getting there as fast as I can…..

May 23, 1975.  That was the day that began roughly 12 years of frustration, mild as it may have been.  The day started out somewhat unusual.  My Dad woke me up in the wee hours of the morning and carried me down the street to a neighbor’s house – they had 2 little boys, the oldest was my age (a very mature 6, thank you very much). I can remember eating cereal that I had never had before and loving it.  And I can remember the fantastic climbing tree in their backyard.  In fact it was in the middle of my early afternoon climb that I was rudely asked to leave that wonderful tree to go meet my new sister.  The nerve!  Now it wasn’t as if I was not prepared for this day, I mean really, my Mom was pregnant for 9 months.  But the reality of how that day would change my life I was in no way prepared for.  So I dutifully went to the hospital with my Dad. 

Now that was back in the day when babies stayed in the nursury with a big picture window so my introduction to Kristin was through the glass.  No big deal.  It she was cute.  But then she came home.

My sister was unfortunately somewhat colic-y and the first year of her life was spent in a swing.  Literally.  It was the only thing that kept her from screaming her little, tiny head off.  Then came the “terrible twos” – she was 2, I was 8.  Boy did she want to follow me and mimic me and basically drive me crazy.  And she did a great job at it, the pesky little thing.

Moving into High School, I was 14 and she was 8 and not much better than 2.  I was into rock-n-roll (*baby!*) and was quite proud of my budding record collection.  Until she sat on them.  My all-time favorite record was broken.  (nothing can quite replace Christmas with the Chipmonks).  Then there was the time that Mom and Dad made her go out on a date with me…a DATE of all things.  A DATE!  But his younger brother was there so I guess it was okay.

Looking back there were quite a few hard feelings and misspoken words.  But you know what?  We survived.  She survived all my pranks and knocks on the head and I survived getting punished for them.  And guess what?  Now it’s her turn.  She now has 2 little girls.  May God bless that household!

Here is a picture of Jude (my sister’s husband) showing Gabby to Olivia for the first time.  She actually looks happy and exited.

And look how happy Olivia is in this Pic.  This is my Dad holding Gabby.

And finally this is my wonderful, beautiful sister, whom I love more than anything in the world.

Gabrielle Joy was born last night – 7 lbs 10 oz, 19″ long – and is my second niece.

This is her father, Jude, (my brother-in-law) showing Gabby to Olivia who is now almost 3 1/2.

And here is my Mom with Olivia and Gabby

And here is that up-close, new naked baby picture

According to my sister, she looks just like Olivia did except shorter (Olivia was 22″ long!), complete with Jude’s eyelashes, which are about a mile long.  I’ll get to meet her on August 1 and will have to live with pictures until then….