RHINEBECK 2008

This was my second year going to Rhinebeck and so far...The BEST! Last year, I went by bus with Yarn Safari for the day. It was fun, but definitely not enough time to see and do everything and to get caught up in the total experience. Even this year, there were things I'm sure I missed! As soon as I got on the bus headed for home, I planned on making a weekend of it . This year it was an adventure that started back in june or july. I knew I was going, but didn't want to go by myself. So, I put a feeler out on the rhinebeck ravelry board to see if anyone South of Boston would be going. I would be glad to share all expenses. OTKate responded and we began talking about it to see if it would work out. Now, Kate could have lived anywhere south of Boston from next door to Cape Cod. Turns out she lived in the same City and hospital organization where I worked! We were also both therapists! We decided it would work out and we'd finalize plans as it got closer to the festival dates. In the meantime, Kate met up with two other women who were planning on going to rhinebeck. Things kept falling into place and it became a road trip of 4! Threescompany (Heather), PurplePear (Maro), OTKate (Kate) and I were heading for Rhinebeck!

We started out as 4 strangers traveling together, but you'd never know it. Everything went so smoothly. I had the best time with everyone. I've always supported the Red Sox( come on, I was born in Cambridge and lived in MA all my life.), but I'd never hung out with such enthusiastic sox fans! It's contagious!!! I even joined the Red Sox knit group on Ravelry!

We left VERY early and arrived at Rhinebeck right at 10:00 a.m. Maro was able to get our tickets ahead of time (Thanks!). No waiting in line for us. It was off for a fun filled day of sensory overload!

Besides all the fiber goodness to be had,there were ravelry meet-ups, wine and cheese tasting, herding demonstrations, pumpkin throwing, people watching, kinearing, and my new favorite- kilt watching. I've never seen so many men in one place wearing kilts. I wasn't able to get any pics...next year. Anyway, on to what you want to see...Fiber!

Our first stop was The Fold for STR. Believe me when I tell you the booth is small! Yet, everyone seemed to get what they wanted. That was only the beginning. The line to pay is loooooong, but it went by faster than I thought it would and we got to meet other knitters. Here's what I scored:

Maro, Heather, and Kate found some yarn for themselves and friends. After the first booth, we were on a roll. I didn't come with any particular haves on my list. However, the ravelry que list came in handy for buying yarn for particular projects. This somewhat prevented the "I don't know what I'm going to do with it, but it's so pretty syndrome" to a degree (not totally-LOL). Heather and Maro were totally organized and had que and vendors list in hand. For anyone going to Rhinebeck next year, it's the way to go! At the end of the first day, it was back to the hotel. We stayed a the Quality Inn Hotel. There were lots of other knitter's there. Some sitting in near check in knitting away. Here is what our first day's haul and how it looked like all in one place!

After we checked in; looked at the day's finds; and freshened up, it was already time to head out to the Ravelry Party. The place was packed. It was held at the Pavillion (outside) of an Elk's lodge. There were a few tents with heaters, but these filled up fast. I had a great time, but Seriously, I froze my ass off! Next year, I'm knitting up double thick long johns, hats, gloves, and scarves! I'll be prepared. There were giveaways, finger foods, and giftie bags. The bag had coupons and yarn inside. There was also a notions keeper from one of the sponsors. After the party, We headed back to the hotel to see how the Red Sox were doing. They won. GO SOX!

The next morning we were off again for another good day. There was more shopping to be done and sights to see. The day flew by. Before we knew it. it was time to head for home, until next year. See you all at Rhinebeck in 2009. I'm saving some pictures of yarns for another post. I'm afraid blogger is not cooperating!

What's new You ask?

Or maybe you didn't ... I'm telling you anyway! I haven't been posting for quite awhile, but I've been knitting! I'm on a finish those WIPS mission. I finished a pair of socks and work on some other socks in various stages of being done. I had also started a Clapotis. At this time, it must make me the last person on earth to cast on for this! In fact, I've seen many blogs where people have knitted it more than once. A few hearty souls have made several (4 or more)!!! It has been fun working on it. I'm making mine with bamboo yarn. It's really coming along nicely.

At some point this spring I became a lace addict and cannot pass on a lace KAL as evidenced by the buttons on the right!!! Have I completed them all ? No. Even started each one? Nope! They'll get done...someday. Now as if I didn't have enough knitting in my hands and overflowing out of my knitting basket, I"m now participating in the Ravelympics. You've all probably read about this until your eyes bleed by now, so I'll be brief (sort of).

The events will coincide with the opening and closing of the Summer Olympics in Beijing. I will have 17 days to complete one or more knitting projects. I have challenged myself by signing up for two events: 1.) the Sweater Sprint and 2.) the Sock put. I am knitting the Canopy Cardigan from KNITSCENE and Gumdrop socks. Pictures to follow (translation: can't find the damn things). I joined Team Overly Ambitious Yet Plausibly Possible -OAYPP and these mates are ambitious! Can't wait to see what we do. I've knit a pair of socks in three days for Sock Madness the first year out, but that's the extent of my speed knitting. Now I'm committed to a sweater AND a pair of socks in seventeen days...

If you smell something burning or see smoke, don't worry, it's me setting those needles on fire with my lightening fast knitting!(LOL ;0) ).

Well, that's it for now. I will have more juicy pictures and info on projects and progress. Gotta go...Allegra, STEP AWAY FROM THE YARN!!!

A mouse of my own!

Hi everyone in blog land. Wendy is out today and I'm a little bored...can ya tell? I never get to post on this blog. So, I'm taking over! Also, I like playing with the mouse. It's not a mouse as I know it. You know like the cute little furry kind...They're not allowed in the house! No wonder I'm bored! Anyway, I was checking out blogs and Finn from Pink lemonade, oops... pink lemon twist left an open invitation for a meme. It's my first...Here goes:

1.What were you doing 10 years ago?
I was en route, almost born

2.What are 5 things on your To Do List for today, in no particular order?
- Eat. Actually, this could BE the list of 5 things.

-. I'd Sun myself a bit on the bedroom window ledge or by the slider door, but it's too hot and I can't unzip myself out of this fur coat! So instead, I'll lay out near the air conditioning. I love the way the air blows my fur about!

-Check each of the windows for birds I can chirp at and make other funny sounds.

- Unroll the toilet paper in the bathroom (I usually do this when I'm bored or being annoying)

- Wash myself from head to toe. I love doing this, but hate the fur balls ...yuck!

3. Favorite snacks?

cat food, yarn (she won't let me near the stuff!), human food (when I can get on the counter without being noticed!), kitty snacks, and I love chewing on those little plastic milk caps. Of course, a little cat nip is great crack..ooh, snack!

4. What would you do if you were a millionaire?

No brainer, Daily order of McDonald's chicken nuggets and fresh shrimp. Then, I'd hire Wendy full time to take of my every whim (then I could get on the dining room table anytime I want!) and who knows me better than she!

5. List the places you've lived:
a. Marshfield, MA (I was born here at the CodyCats Cattery).

b. Middleboro, MA

Just like Finn , I won't be tagging anyone in particular, but if you need a blog post, feel free to consider yourself tagged!

Well time for me to sign off. It was fun and I'll take over again sometime! Gotta go, I hear a key in the door...

P.S Wendy will be back soon!

Samantha...sweet girl

September 1993 -April 15, 2008



This is my sweet Samantha who left this world for a better place last week. She was a beautiful cat with a sweet disposition. All I had to do was look at her and she'd start purring! She loved to play with her basket of toys and often dropped them at my feet to join in her fun and was a big fan my yarn and knitting. She never met a yarn ball, she didn't like. I thought I'd have her for a lot longer, but it wasn't meant to be.

Samantha was a charmer right from the start! I had offered to pick up the "twins" for my mother who wanted 2 cats to keep each others company when she was at work. They were 2 siblings that looked alike expect for the size of a white stripe that went from the top of their heads to their noses. Otherwise, you couldn't tell them apart. My friend Sandy, kept the kittens in the recreation/playroom, so they wouldn't get into to much mischief in the rest of the house. She told me she had one more kitten left and that one was going to the pet shop, because there were no offers to take her. I thought about it ,but wasn't really planning to get a cat at that time.

All of the sudden we heard pool balls rolling and out of one the pockets popped up a kitten, who then scurried across the table doing 100 mph! When I saw that beautiful and spirited cat, there was no way in hell she was going to any pet store! She rode to her new home that night tucked in my sweater with her head poking out every once-in-while and purring like a machine. She's been one of my best decisions in life!

She had recently developed a slight limp that resulted in a Vet visit. At the time it was thought to be an ingrown toe nail. it was clipped and she seemed fine. For a few days she seemed like her old self, but I thought her weight had changed slightly, the nail seemed to be sticking further out than the other nails and she was limping again. At the follow-up visit, Dr Wolfthal felt a small bump behind the nail. It was one of two things " An infection or tumor. He treated it as an infection and if it wasn't perfectly normal in a week, He'd x-ray it and remove the tumor. Everything went down hill quickly. The tumor grew rapidly and the foot a just didn't look right. We scheduled her to have the toe removed in the event it was malignant. She continued to decline and X-rays the day of her surgery showed a malignant and fast invading tumor. It had gone to her bones and lungs. The only thing that could be done was feline hospice or euthanasia. Dr. Wolfthal recommended euthanasia because although she never was a cat who showed any sign of pain, she had to be in great pain. I took her home that day so I could have one more day with her and brought her back the next day to be "put to sleep" . It's one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make and I didn't want to be selfish and hold on to her for my sake. She just wasn't the same and looked as though she wanted it to be over. All she wanted to do was to be held on my lap and sleep. I was there with her and held her to the end. My sweet little Samantha, you always be in my thoughts and in my heart. I miss you more than you'll ever. know.

Hibernating,knitting and a sick cat.

can't believe how long it's been since I last posted. At the beginning of the year, I had joined blog 365 and then decided that blogging 7 days a week would be more of a challenge than I thought. I ended up going from posting 7 days a week to zip, Nada, zilch, zero! I haven't dropped out of knitting though. I joined a few KALS and have been knitting scarves and socks. The KALS have all been lace related. So, I have projects to keep me busy! I'll have some picture to show soon. I broke my camera back in January. It still works for the most part, but when I try to adjust or use the zoom lens, it goes out back-and-forth in and out of focus. Ain't that a bitch... My camera needs glasses!

2007 was a mixture of good and hideous! My last few years have been like that and I was hoping to get a break in 2008. I'm probably no better or worse than off anyone else, but it would be nice to have a year that goes smoothly for a change. For fun I went to a psychic party in November of 2007. I'm always a little surprised when someone tells me things about myself or my life, especially when I don't volunteer any info that can help them with the predictions. This psychic new I had surgery and told me to expect another one but minor nothing to worry about! She also told me that 2008 would be a great year because so many good changes would be happening. These included a new house, going to a wedding and having a wedding. Now all I have to do is meet prince charming, fall in love, get engaged, plan a wedding and get married. This woman also told me I would write that book I'd been planning (it's true, but I never shared that with ANYONE until now!) but not until a few years from now. I was also told that as much as I disliked by job and as "itchy" as I was to escape from it, I needed to stay-put. I am still there, but looking... It was also interesting that she brought up my dancing and skating. She told me I was artistic and that I wasn't finished dancing. Peta (the psychic) insisted I would be dancing again. I had to laugh out loud and tell her: "My dancing days are over!" except maybe for some dancing at parties. I was told the above prince charming would be well off (slackers need not apply!) and finished off the reading by chuckling and saying: "hmm, I see you getting a new computer".

Should I have asked for a money-back guarantee? Do you think I can get my money back or do I have to wait until the end of 2008 to see how much came true? I'll tell you readers right now, this year is not shaping up to be a winner as predicted!

One of the most important reasons I haven't been blogging is my cat, Samantha. My beautiful purring machine has not been herself for a while and I've been spending time taking care of her and giving extra kitty love. About a month ago, I noticed her holding her paw up when she was sitting down and easing herself off of furniture instead of her usual leap. I inspected the foot, but didn't see anything wrong with it. I called her vet and a few days later we were at the office to check it out. It seemed she has one of her nails in-grown into the pad. Her nails were clipped. The small nail in the pad was removed and she was placed on antibiotics as a precaution. The other problem was her weight loss. I bring her in for blood work every 3 months due to hyperthyroidism. She takes medicine daily and did well. I did notice a small change in her weight and the vet confirmed it, but decided not to change her medicine because all of her blood work came back normal. He felt she might stressed by the foot problem and cats will lose a little weight when sick or injured. She took her medicine without too much trouble and I thought things were going well, until I looked at foot one morning and noticed it seemed swollen. I mentally made a note to call the vet from work. As I was leaving for work that day, I returned to my bedroom to retrieve my forgotten glasses and give Samantha a pat on the head. My brain couldn't quite wrap-around what I was seeing ...blood. there was 4 streams of blood rolling down my bed quilt to the floor! I picked her and saw it was coming from her nail . Right then, we were back at the Vets. He put her on more antibiotics, inspected the wound (she must bit the nail while grooming and that started the bleeding). He felt a hard lump at the base of the nail and came up with 2 possible diagnoses. A bacterial infection from the in-grown nail or a tumor(that caused the nail to curve into her foot pad. He went with the bacterial infection because after Samantha opened it by biting at the nail, it stunk. So, she was put on antibiotics and I had to soak the foot twice a day. He said if the foot wasn't completely normal when I returned in two weeks, we'd have to consider there is a tumor behind the infected part of the foot.

We returned to the Vets office on Thursday and he was not pleased. The infection is gone and the wound is closed up. However, the hard lump is still there. The Vet felt if it had been just an infection, the lump should be completely gone. She has also continued to lose weight despite eating (she is eating less). The next step is a chest X-ray and an X-ray of her foot. If she has a cancer it will show up in her lungs first. If the Chest x-ray is negative, he'll operate and remove the affected toe.

She's fifteen years old and other than hyperthyroidism is in excellent shape. I'm hoping for the best, but every time I look at her I feel very sad. In the last month, she's lost a lot of weight for a cat (3lbs). Since the infection has cleared up, she's been more like her old self. I'll know for sure on the 14th whether she'll be able to have the surgery.

I'm out of hibernation and plan to post more regularly. Until the next post, happy knitting. It's a great stress reliever, for sure!!!