Mitten...

So, yeah, like I'm still working on a mitten. Yeah, it's going slowly. But ya see, I'm not in this for speed. I'm in this for relaxation. So there... This is how far I've gotten, and Dave's yarn looks a lttle washed out here. The colors are very vibrant in real life:

I just wanted you all to know that I'm still knitting.... And I thank those of you who have left comments the past several days. It's been such fun trying to keep up with Ann and Dave. It's not easy....

Have a great night!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

My Mom is now 75. How awesome is that? She raised 6 boys (and did not become an alcoholic becuase of it... lol.), has 9 grandchildren, 1 great grandchild, and another due in September.

Growing up, she always made sure that we had lots of books to read. Reading was so important to her - her dream was to be a teacher (Due to her mother's health, she left high school during her senior year to take care of her). She instilled in us how important an education was, so she did her best to make sure we got what we needed, and that we worked hard to achieve academically. We were always encouraged to try new things, and to make the committment to finish what we started. We were allowed to participate in sports (except football - that was the only sport she put her foot down and said "NO".), band, chorus - what ever made us happy. When as a kid, and I started crocheting and knitting, it was ok. I had her support and love, and it was all ok. (Don't get me wrong, my Mom was a very good disciplinarian. She is the reason my brothers are very good parents, and I have very good classroom management skills. We learned that "no" was a very neccessary word, and it's ok to use it. The only time we knew we were in big trouble was the few times she used that phrase that made our blood run cold: "We'll take care of this when you father gets home...")

I'm very lucky. I still have my Mom who, since retiring from working in a dress factory many years ago, is incredibly active. She's NEVER home. Which is awesome. When not volunteering at the local hospital, there are the many bus trips - Atlantic City, Nashville, Branson, Phillies games. Yes, the Phillies. A tried and true fan of the Phillies is my Mom. A couple of games a year, and of course, most evenings in the summer are spent watching "her boys" on tv as she does a crossword puzzle, or spends time on the phone with one of her boys. And yes, I can talk with my Mom about anything... She's an awesome listener.

April 29, 1931. I truly believe that God smiled that day. I love you, Mom! Happy Birthday!

Discovery...

So, I needed to get a little birthday gift after school for a friend. I'm in this great little gift shop and I overhear this woman saying "I was taking this spinning class today...". My ears pick up, and I immediately get to that side of the shop to get involved. The store owner is a friend, and she knows that I recently got involved in knitting... So, as it happens, this woman and her husband have an alpaca farm. So, we get into this conversation about her farm, the alpacas, and of course I have to ask if they sell yarn. Indeed, they do. She said to me "we have yarn and roving and finished items (socks, hats and scarves) for sale at the local Farm Implement Store. (Where one would go to buy a tractor or other large farm machinery)(If one would need something like that...). She also said that they were going to shear the alpacas next week if I want to come and see them. It turns out that her farm is about 15 miles from where I live. What a lovely woman! It was a very nice chat, and of course, I just had to get my ass to the Farm Implement Store to check it out. And here you have it:

This knitting thing is starting to evolve into what one might describe as a "crack habit". I'm also starting to discover that there is more right here in my backyard than I thought... Which is very cool.

Life is good...

By the way, I didn't forget to get a birthday present as well...

Naked Yarn...

Look, Ann! Look Dave! Naked yarn!

I'm kinda excited that I'm gonna attempt to dye this stuff. I still don't know what method or colors, but I'm gonna do it! hehehe...


And I know that I'll get some suggestions and answers to my questions from the experienced people out there. And if not, I could really fuck this up.....

And I'm thinking some type of cable knit sweater may be on the needles in the future... And socks.

And...

Since the picture of my knitting in the past post is a bit "busy", and doesn't really show off Dave's yarn, I decided to post this:


And yes, the project is mittens. Let me explain:

I'm not afraid to knit socks. Really. But, after a couple of e-mails with Dave, and then referring to the Ann Budd book, "The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns", I measured my foot and my size isn't listed ( I guess I have big honkin' feet. Go figure...). And since I'm not that experienced with altering patterns (well, actually, I've NEVER altered a pattern), and I didn't want to run out of Dave's beautiful yarn, I settled on mittens instead of socks.

BUT, if all works out, I'll have yarn left over for an extra special project just for Dave!

Be afraid. Be VERY afraid.....

Hehehehehehehe......

End of Vacation

So, after having had a week off from school for the spring break, this is what I've accomplished:

I bought a new digital camera and started a blog.
I had a great trip to Skaneateles to check out a great yarn store ("Hi Shannon!").
I bought some great yarn!
I received a little package a while ago from Boston (Thanks, Dave!), and have begun knitting on dpns - kinda successfully, I think...
I had lots of quality time with my little girl, Lizzie (and she's still shedding...).
I made some new friends and had several entertaining e-mails because of my blog.
I learned from Ann all about "cornholing".


Damn, life is good...


Here is an updated pic of my knitting - I don't knit as fast as Dave - but then, who does? lol. I added a mug that matches the bowl that several of you commented about, and turned the bowl so you could see the design. OH, and the project? Mittens... I thought maybe I should tell ya, since it doesn't look like socks.....

(Could there be just a few more patterns in this picture?)

And for Cookie, a pic of the cloisonne hummingbird:

Back to school tomorrow. *sigh*

Have a great night!

Rainy Day Knitting

I decided that since today was (and still is) a rainy day in Central New York, I would give a try at doing some knitting on my new dpns. This is quite an interesting process, and as time went on, it got easier and faster. Below you see my results of the day so far. I'm doing a 1 x 1 rib on size 2 needles. The yarn comes from our famous friend in Boston, Mr. Dave Daniels. The colors are really vibrant and beautiful (the picture is a little dark, but I think you get the idea. I'll have to take pictures again during a sunny day so there is more light in the apartment). What is it I'm knitting, you ask? Well, let us leave that for something to discuss in a future post.... Next to my little adventure in knitting is my notebook from Menwhoknit.com. I just love the slogan, don't you?

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Now that I'm rested....

Good Morning!

Yesterday I decided to take a little drive over to the Finger Lakes region of New York, to visit a little yarn shop I had heard about from friends called "Elegant Needles". Located in the beautiful historic village of Skaneateles on Skaneateles Lake, Elegant Needles was well worth the trip: gorgeous yarns (too many to remember), and a nice selection of needles: Addi Turbos, Lantern Moon, and Brittany.

The best part of the store, though, is manager Shannon Chaffee. Shannon is a master knitter, extremely knowledgable about the craft of knitting, and could answer any question I threw at her. She offers help to knitters during business hours, gives private knitting lessons, and hosts a knitters' group at her shop Wednesday Evenings. She was very friendly and easy to talk to, and as someone who is re-introducing himself to the craft, her interest in my knitting and knitting experiences was genuine and caring. My questions and opinions were taken seriously and with optimum professionalism.

In a nutshell: I LIKE HER A LOT!!!!!!!

Another great thing about Shannon is that she is also a singer, so she was awarded BIG POINTS in my book! She belongs to a Sweet Adelines group that will be competing in a huge competition in May, so I wish her and her group best wishes for some kick-ass singing!

So, that said, I thank Shannon for a great shopping experience, and I now have a great reason to take a little jaunt to Skaneateles every so often. If you're ever in the area, please take a look at Elegant Needles! 7 Jordan St., Skaneateles. www.elegantneedles.com (Her website is doing funky things at the moment, she said, so keep trying...) There are also several great little shops and restaurants in Skaneateles, so plan on taking a day and do the tourist thing!

On that note, here are 2 pics of beautiful Skaneateles Lake,
taken from Shotwell Park:

From a landing at the entrance to the park:

Entrance to Shotwell Park from the flag pole:

Have a great day!

A Little Shopping....

So, I needed to do a little shopping. I got in the car, I drove, and I bought...
A little Jo Sharp, a little Jaeger Luxury Tweed, a little Cestari,
2 hand painted coffee mugs from Bulgaria,
a cloisonne hummingbird for my mother's birthday,
and yes, a few "tools".

And I'm quite fatigued....
So, I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.

Have a pleasant evening. I'm afraid I need a little nap...

Quiet day...

I think I look really nice on this rug. What do you think?*












*Actually interpreted as: "Put down the yarn and the sticks, and let's go out for a walk. It's fucking Spring, for crying out loud!"



Thanks for all your kind comments. Knitters... Gotta love'em...

Why I knit...

Hi there!

First of all, thank you to all of you who stopped by and said hello! And a bigger thanks to Dave for letting you know I'm here. He is a peach!

So, to the question at hand: Why I knit....

I think I was 10 or 11 when I learned, and for many years I took on project after project, never finishing them. Sure, there was the sweater for a sister-in-law that took 3 years (oy...), numerous afghans that were either knitted or crocheted (yes, I can do that, too!) and never saw completion to warm someone on a chilly evening. Why? Beats the hell out of me. I guess my attention span back then wasn't long enough to get me to the end... So, after years of starting things, and then college and then the work force, knitting stopped for many years.

I took knitting up again about 2 months ago because I had this need to create. Normally, when I create, it's always directing a play or musical, or conducting a chorus or church choir, or some other form of performing arts (I teach music, so all of these things outside of school became nothing more than an extension of my job).

So, after years of living my life as a constant rehearsal or performance, I took a little time off. (Can you say "Burned out"??) Gave up the church choir. Gave up the Community Chorus. Even gave up the high school musical for a year. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Came home after school, walked the dog, and stayed in. By myself. Alone.

AND LOVED IT!!!!!!!!! It was really very nice to have home time, dog time, and Paul time. I read. I cooked. I cleaned. I purged my apartment of anything I held on to for years that had absolutely no use in my life. I found my kitchen table that I hadn't seen in months (Dave must be cringing at that statement. lol.) My life was starting to have order. What it didn't have, was a creative outlet. What it also didn't have, was a social outlet. I, in turn, put up so many walls between myself and any living human being, that there really was no social outlet, either. And the kinda weird thing about that was, it really didn't bother me. I liked being by myself. (Also, having had a very rough year at school the year before, people were not high on my list of good things... Long story, not important - not going there. No need to.) But I needed SOMETHING...

So, one day in January, I did a google search - men who knit. And the doors flew open, and finally, here I am. I'm a man. And I knit.

I knit to create. I knit to give my hands something to do. I knit to keep busy so I don't stuff my face because I'm bored. I knit to try new techniques and patterns. I knit because I can. And I can quite well, if I do say so myself. LOL! I'm not going to set the world on fire with my projects. I'm not going to publish designs for yarn companies. I'm not going to knit because I have to make gifts for people and make deadlines to have things finished. I knit to keep me sane. I knit to keep me busy. I knit. It doesn't matter if I knit for hours, if I knit for a couple of minutes, or if I spend an evening not knitting a single stich. It's not a race. It's not to make more stress in my life. It's because I can, when I can, when I want to. And I'm very happy with that.

Knitting has also introduced me to this community of online bloggers and knitters who share their projects, their knitting, and their friendship. You know what I mean. The wonderful comments, the e-mails, the suggestions, the help, the concerns and the laughs. And I thank you all for all these things that you have given me. So, we'll keep knitting, laughing, sharing, blogging and creating.

So, I'm pretty happy knitting with all of you. And honored to be in your company! Have a great night! Paul

Thanks, Dave....

My friend, Dave Daniels, was so kind to post about my new blog. He's a good guy! So, if he brought you here, tell him Paul said hello! And yes, I do knit, and if things work out the way they are supposed to, there will be a pic of some scarves I recently made or am working on:



Ok, so not a great picture by any means, but it's a start. The striped scarf is a pattern from "Scarf Style" ed. by Pam Allen. The green scarf is a stitch called "Harris Tweed" from "mon tricot 1100 Stitches and Patterns" that I worked into a scarf. The scarf in progress is called Misty Garden from "Scarf Style". I'm working it in Paton's Divine (which I think is really difficult to work with and I really hate knitting with it - not that I'm bitter or anything...). (And I think I deserve an "A" for effort, for I did attempt to make a tableau of my projects al a "Cabin Cove" tradition - what do ya think, Dave, I tried......)

Thank you all for visiting and leaving the very nice, supportive comments. Any friends of Dave's.....

So.....

While having a few beers with my friends Ron and Geri last night, we were talking about my recent obsession with knitting, and all the blogs that I have found on the internet. A few people that I have been talking with were saying that I should start my own blog, but the only real thing holding me back was a title. Ron is quite the connoisseur of beer from all over the world, and as we were drinking this really wonderful beer named "Blithering Idiot", the name came to us all as in a vision, so here I am, the Blithering Knitiot.....

So, in the future, I plan on showing you knitting projects I'm working on and planning on doing, and maybe a few observations on life and living in rural Central New York.